India's investment in aircraft carriers&#8212;an Indian Sea Harrier launches from the INS Viraat in 2007&#8212;is indicative of the nation's emerging power in a significant region. How India chooses to view that region affects the rest of the world.

Is history "more or less bunk," as Henry Ford maintained? Many Americans think so. "In current American usage," observes Princeton scholar Bernard Lewis, "the phrase 'that's history' is commonly used to dismiss something as unimportant, of no relevance to current concerns." This is not so elsewhere in the world. Rising Asian titans such as China and India are scrutinizing U.S. diplomatic and military history for relevant lessons. "That's history" means something different in Beijing or New Delhi than in Washington or New York.

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